The Great Will and The Great Reason

There was some talk about the elusive Great ___s found in the Shin Megami Tensei games, so I figured I’d share some small (linguistic) explanations for the three we know.

– Shin Megami Tensei II has YHVH mention what we call The Great Will aka  大いなる意志 [ooinaru ishi]

– Shin Megami Tensei III brings into discussion The Great Will once more, this time with a slightly different kanji  大いなる意思 [ooinaru ishi]

– Shin Megami Tensei IV FINAL offers us a change, with The Great Will becoming The Great Reason/Truth (depending on how you want to read it, they function on the same principle) 大いなる理 [ooinaru ri/kotowari]

Both 意志 and 意思 are read the same and generally denote the same thing: intention. In fact, I’ve noticed that Japanese players use them interchangeably, with an overwhelming preference for  意思  (probably because Nocturne’s the more recent game).

All right, so what’s different? There’s actually a very interesting difference between them. 意志 signifies the determination to do something, a proactive state of mind [from 志 kokorozashi – will, intention, motive]. On the other hand,  意思 refers to one’s thoughts and feelings because of  思 shi – to think.

Basically it’s like the difference between ‘I want to do thing’ and ‘I’m thinking of doing thing’. The intention is there, but with a different nuance for each word.

Now, on to  大いなる理. The second kanji can be read either ri or kotowari. The dictionary tells us it means reason, truth, the natural order of things, fundamental truth, etc. Fun fact: if kotowari sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the Reasons of Nocturne (which only had the katakana version コトワリ).

Japanese players have also noticed the difference and look like they have decided that The Great Reason is the equivalent of The Great Will in the SMT4 universe. I figure the official translation will maintain the terminology of the previous games, but knowing some details never hurts. c: